Singapore Youths Want Safer Social Media, Not a Blanket Ban

Social media safety is not a choice between unrestricted access and a total ban. That is the clearest message from YouthTechSG’s Youth Digital Pulse Report, released on September 14, 2026: young people described substantial online harm while favouring safeguards that let them learn to navigate social media more safely.414

How widespread were the harms?

The study drew on focus groups, street interviews and an online poll involving 227 people aged 13–35. In the reported findings, 68.5% said they had experienced at least one form of online harm in the previous month. Addiction and doom scrolling were the most commonly cited problems, followed by cyberbullying and inappropriate content.42933

More than one in five of the 116 focus-group and street-interview participants identified addiction and doom scrolling as the most common harm they experienced. That figure describes those participants, not the entire 227-person study.29 Reporting also identified platform design—including infinite scroll—as a perceived contributor to harm: more than half of online-poll respondents pointed to design as a main reason.6

The available reporting mentions inappropriate user- or AI-generated content and the role of anonymity, but does not establish separate prevalence figures for toxicity, unwanted messages or each content type. Nor does it quantify the distinct effects of reduced social cues and physical distance.46

What safeguards did respondents favour?

In the online poll, three-quarters said better in-app reporting and support tools could help address harm. More than half backed fewer algorithm-driven feeds and more chronological feeds.5 These preferences target both what happens when someone encounters harm and design features that may keep them scrolling.

A blanket youth ban had much less support: 79% of respondents opposed one, while about 77% considered age-tiered access at least somewhat effective. The concern reported alongside opposition to a ban was that excluding young people altogether could deny them the chance to develop judgment and coping skills gradually—the potential “cliff effect” of gaining access later without that experience.4

Age rules also face an enforcement problem. 72% said they would try to bypass, or had already bypassed, age-verification measures. The finding is a measure of respondents’ stated or reported behaviour, not proof that any particular age-check system will fail.4

How does this relate to Singapore’s policy debate?

Measures under consideration have included daily time limits and switching off auto-play by default. Separately, reporting says Singapore is preparing legislative measures to strengthen safeguards for young social-media users by early 2027. These are reported proposals and plans, not measures that the YouthTechSG study itself put into force.3034

Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo has described restricting access for under-18s on platforms that fail to provide necessary safeguards as a possible, but not ideal, outcome. Platforms with suitable protections could continue operating. That conditional approach differs from a blanket ban across all services; the available sources do not establish a universal increase in the minimum access age from 13 to 18.3638

The report was launched at Singapore Management University alongside an agreement between YouthTechSG and SMU’s Centre for Digital Law. An expert discussion included Jason Grant Allen and Lim Sun Sun and was moderated by Josh Lee Kok Thong.2 Available coverage characterises Minister of State Rahayu Mahzam’s position as pairing safeguards with education rather than relying on a ban, but does not substantiate detailed remarks from her, Chatham House discussion rules or specific conclusions attributed to individual panellists.11

The practical takeaway is narrower, and stronger, than a claim that young people reject regulation: respondents reported harm, supported changes to platform tools and access, and questioned whether a blanket ban—or age checks alone—would adequately protect them.45